Word of Eric Hassli’s fantastic equalizer in the Amway Canadian Championship Final first leg did not take long to seep over the border into the United States.
Hassli scored one of his trademark wonder goals in the closing minutes to secure a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the final with Toronto. News travels fast and it wasn’t long before the goal was the subject of much discussion among the players of Major League Soccer.
Speaking at Chivas USA training in the build up to their derby match with LA Galaxy, former Vancouver Whitecaps FC midifelder Peter Vagenas revealed that he had not seen it yet but received about ‘seven text messages’ from fellow players and friends.
One of those texts was from another former colleague, Sounders FC’s Steve Zakuani, whose content Vagenas read verbatim to reporters.
Referring back to Vagenas’ time at Vancouver, the Sounders Congolese winger asked:
“Oh the things Hassli does. Are these kinds of things normal for Hassli? As in, does he do it at training regularly?”
Vagenas then recalled the day of Hassli’s last famous goal, against Vancouver’s Saturday opponents (2 p.m. PT at BC Place, live on TSN, listen on TEAM 1410 radio) and Zakuani’s own club, Seattle Sounders FC.
“He’s definitely something special. I was on the field when he scored that one in Qwest Field. And it was just .. I was so mad at him for shooting because - ‘what are you doing’ … and then I was celebrating with him. He’s got that quality so I will make sure I see it.”
Vagenas then was able to watch the goal from last night on a reporter’s cell phone but commented that he still though Hassli’s goal in Seattle was better, adding:
“If I could shoot that hard I’d shoot.”
Tickets remain available for Saturday's huge soccer day at BC Place, as the UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea will be shown on the big screen at 11:45 a.m. PT, followed by Whitecaps FC hosting Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle Sounders FC at 2 p.m. PT. To find tickets, visit ticketmaster.ca/whitecapsfc.
